Bike Lanes Good for Business? YES!

Our CDM hero, Frank Peters, writes a great article on how bike lanes, sharrows and traffic calming helps businesses grow. It creates new customers, increased foot and cycling traffic and a safer community.

Read this article in his Cycling Safety column in in CoronadelMarToday: Don't Tell Them

Well worth a read, business owners of Laguna Beach.

Get Inspired by Portland

Portland, OR is doing a trial street closure this summer. They are taking a downtown street block and closing it to cars. Businesses have agreed to pay the city for the metered parking income that they will "lose" during the June-October time period, an amount of $5K.

Imagine Forest Avenue closed to cars! The restaurants and shops could spill into the sidewalks. Families, groups of tourists, young and old getting together with friends or going solo and people watching at a sidewalk cafe. 

It's a vision...can you see it?

Read the Portland story in BikePortland.org

Complete Streets Legislation Introduced to the US Senate

We are going federal, people! So far complete streets legislation has been local and state supported, but Monday Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2011 was introduced into the US Senate.

Read the article in AltTransport.

This is not a fad...the un-car way of being is for real...and it could raise a city's property values, I'm lookin' at you, Laguna Beach! :)

LA Cyclists Hoping for City Council to Make Streets Safer

Here is an excerpt from the article by Regina Graham:

"Cyclists feel that they are second-class citizens in a city that is well known for its love affair with cars. They think that the city is slow in making the necessary improvements for them to be safe on the road and have a number of issues with riding their two wheels in the city."

“This proposal, this anti-harassment proposal, allows cyclists take action independently of any reliance upon the city,” .... “It creates a private cause of action that allows cyclists that are the victims of discrimination on the road way to pursue the matter civilly, rather than wait for law enforcement to act.”

It targets motorists who physically assault, attempt to assault a bicyclist, intentionally injure, threaten to physically injure either by words, vehicle, or other objects and intentionally distract or attempt to distract a bicyclist."

Read the whole story by Regina Graham in neontommy.com 

Other cities are adopting such anti-harassment legislation, how often are you being harassed in Laguna Beach while walking or biking our streets? Tell us your stories, we will post them.

Peak Oil: A Chance to Change the World

For advice about life after graduation, students at Worcester Polytechnic wanted to hear from peak oil scholar Richard Heinberg instead of Exxon’s CEO. Click here to read what he told them. 

  

This is an excerpt from his essay/speech in Yes! Magazine:

"But here’s the thing. Everyone knows that America and the world will have to transition off of fossil fuels during this century anyway. Mr. Tillerson knows it as well as anyone. Some people evidently want to delay that transition as long as possible, but it cannot be put off indefinitely. My colleagues at Post Carbon Institute and I believe that delaying this transition is extremely dangerous for a number of reasons. Obviously, it prolongs the environmental impacts from fossil fuel production and combustion. But also, the process of building a renewable energy economy will take decades and require a tremendous amount of investment. If we don’t start soon enough, society will get caught in a trap of skyrocketing fuel prices and a collapsing economy, and won’t be in a position to fund needed work on alternative energy development.

In my darker moments I fear that we have already waited too long and that it is already too late. I hope I’m not right about that, and when I talk to young people like you I tend to feel that we can make this great transition, and that actions that have seemed politically impossible for the past forty years will become inevitable as circumstances change, and as a new hearts and minds comes to the table.

Even in the best case, though, the fact that we have waited so long to address our addiction to oil will still present us with tremendous challenges. But this is not a problem for ExxonMobil, at least not anytime soon. When the price of oil goes up, we feel the pain while Exxon reaps the profits. Even though Exxon’s actual oil production is falling due to the depletion of its oilfields, corporate revenues are flush: Exxon made almost $11 billion in profits in just the past three months. This translates to jobs in the oil industry. But how about the renewable energy industry, which everyone agrees is the key to our future?"
 

Get Involved: LB Planning Commission asks for Complete Streets Input

Our city Planning Commission is developing a Parking Management Plan for the Downtown Specific Plan area and are soliciting help from the Complete Streets Task Force. They request:

"If the Complete Streets Task Force is interested in this endeavor, please feel free to discuss, consider, and formulate any and all project objectives with the Task Force and provide a list of itemized objectives for the Downtown Parking Management Plan to us no later than July 1, 2011." 

This effort will be an agenda item for the June 14th meeting.  If you don't know how to get started, read the Laguna Beach 2030 Vision Plan. 

Share any ideas on the comment section here or email lagunastreets@gmail.com

Talking Points to Mobility

Now is the time to build for the future of Laguna Beach-- No more keeping us down with the status quo!

I recently read some suggested talking points from the group Streets for all Seattle and thought they made sense for us (with a few tweaks). Any new public investments in our city transportation planning should make Laguna Beach:

1.  Healthy by promoting active transportation options;
2.  Affordable by not making automobile-ownership a prerequisite for mobility;
3.  Vibrant by providing an aesthetic village atmosphere for businesses and community interaction to thrive from new accessibility;
4.  Equitable by ensuring that our transportation system works for everyone – young and old, able-bodied and disabled, rich and poor;
5.  Environmentally-responsible by helping to protect our oceans, canyons and lowering overall carbon emissions.

We Are Hopeful -- Complete Streets and LB City Council Budget

On Tuesday 17 May 2011 during the Budget Workshop Laguna Beach City Council approved a budget line-item for Complete Streets infrastructure, the appropriation will appear in the city's budget  plan for Capital Improvements. A "place holder" value for this appropriation is currently $300,000.

A big thanks to all who attended and/or voiced support for our beautiful city and its need to fund and support walking, biking and mass transit.

Moulton Meadows Trail Project by Complete Streets Task Force

 The LB Complete Streets Task Force proposed a walk/bike trail to connect TOW to Arch Beach Heights allowing these two neighborhoods access to TOW elementary school, playing fields and beautiful park space. Pictured is the existing public easement from Alta Laguna Blvd into the watershed, the paved Moulton Meadows road is seen on the horizon.

Sharrows in Long Beach - Urban Planner Commentary